Come into the Garden

Now that the rain has stopped and the sun has shone for a couple of days, I decided to take a walk around the garden to see how my plants are doing.  So, to slightly misquote Alfred, Lord Tennyson,  "Come into the garden".

The Bed of Lantana in the Front Garden

I am hoping the lantana will grow a little bit with all the rain we've had.  The dusty miller and snap dragons I planted last October are doing well in the front flower bed along the walkway leading to the front door:

Front Flower Bed

 The side yard is full of "weeds"!

 

Weed-filled Side Yard

The back garden is greening, nicely:

Back Garden

Going around the garden in a more or less anti-clockwise direction, starting from where the above picture was taken:


The poor camellia is all but dead!  I'll keep it to see if it responds to the recent rains.  One never knows!

The Camellia

The jasmine vine I pulled out from behind the shed and potted up is growing:

Jasmine

 Self-seeded African daisies at the base of the curry leaf tree:

African Daisies

The paperwhites have grown quite well:

Paperwhites

 The hibiscus plant has many new buds and new growth:

 

Hibiscus

I've several clumps of crocosmia growing along the side wall:

Crocosmia

They were growing here when I bought the house but my mother didn't like them (the leaves have a tendency to fall over and look untidy) and she had my gardener dig them all up.  But, every year, one or two bulbs that managed to escape being dug up would come up and, after her death, I allowed them to grow.  Anything that has proven it will grow in my garden despite being actively discouraged at first and then benignly neglected afterwards, has earned a right to continue growing!  There's a small sapling growing behind this clump of crocosmia (the light grey stick of a trunk; it is more visible in the picture above) is another such plant that we dug up year after year and kept returning, year after year, until I stopped trying to uproot it!   

Close Up of Crocosmia Flowers

The rosemary bush is full of flowers and the bees are enjoying them!

Rosemary

Spot the Bee?

Along the back wall, the euphorbia is putting out new growth, too:

 

Euphorbia

It's not the popular "sticks of fire" euphorbia, but the growing tips are a bit orangey:

Euphorbia

Some of the back garden's "lawn" is a mixture of plants other than grass!   I guess one would call them "weeds", although, some of them are edible plants.

Wild Camomile Seedlings

Henbit is also edible and the bees love the nectar of the pinky-purple flowers (barely visible in the picture, to the left):

Henbit

My poor little peach tree.  I am hoping it is just dormant and not dead!  We'll find out in another month or two. 

Peach Tree

 It is time to prune the rose bushes, but they are still bravely flowering!
 

The Last Rose of Winter?

Not Quite!

And nearby, the gazanias are going a bit crazy!  They are drought tolerant, but obviously enjoy getting some rain.

Gazanias

The sprengeri ferns have enjoyed the rain, too, but there seems to be another jasmine vine growing in the middle of this clump:

 

Jasmine Vine and Sprengeri Fern

The lantana hedge along the other side wall:
 

Lantana

And what I like to call my "meadow" - mostly overgrown grass, mixed in with a patche of day flowers (Commelina), gazanias, two "wild" roses (growing from the root stock of of the tea roses that have died) and a bed of a type of amaryllis, which are also known as Belladonna lilies or "naked ladies".

Amaryllis/Belladonna Lilies in Foreground

My poor gardener friend can't mow this area because everything is growing together and he doesn't want to damage the gazanias, etc.

More of the "Meadow"

The back garden from a different angle:  the circles used to be full of rose bushes.  Now, we want to transplant the few that are still growing into one flower bed and let the others revert to grass.

Former Rose Beds

Or, maybe I can grow some vegetables in one of them?

 

Potential Vegetable Bed?

Thank you for walking in my garden with me.  I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!